This application claims the priority benefit of Japanese application serial no. 2001-155944, filed on May 24, 2001 and 2001-155947, filed on May 24, 2001 and 2001-155940 filed on May 24, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a refrigerator that is configured with a storage compartment and a duct in a thermal insulating housing. In the storage room, cold air, which performs thermal exchange with a cooler installed in the air duct, circulates by a fan.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a refrigerator is made of thermal insulating housing, in which foam thermal insulating material such as polyurethane foam is filled by an in-situ foaming method between an external housing made of steel plate and an interior housing made of hard synthetic resin. The thermal insulating housing is divided to form a storage compartment, including a freezer compartment, a cold storage compartment and a vegetable compartment etc.
Additionally, a mechanical room is divided from the thermal insulating housing to be formed at the lower portion of the thermal insulating housing. In the mechanical room, a compressor forming a cooling device, a condenser, and a fan for the condenser etc are installed therein. The cooling device and a cooler, constituting a freezing cycle, are vertically arranged behind the back surface of the storage compartment. A fan for the cooler is installed above the cooler. A partition plate is formed in front of the cooler and the fan, and an air duct is formed between the partition plate and the back wall of the thermal insulating housing.
By operating the compressor of the cooling device and the fan, the cold air cooled in the air duct is blown to the storage compartment. In this way, the freezer compartment in the storage compartment is cooled to a freezing temperature, such as xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C., and additionally, the cold storage compartment in the storage compartment is maintained at a cold temperature such as +5xc2x0 C. In the vegetable compartment, foods such as vegetables that cannot become dry are reserved at a proper temperature.
As the foods etc are stored in the storage compartment of the refrigerator, various germs such as bacteria and molds adhere on the surface of eggs etc and diffuse in the storage compartment because of the cold air circulating in the storage compartment. These germs will adhere to other foods. In addition, the cold air containing the germs will return to the air duct, so that the germs will also adhere to the cooler and the cooler fan in the air duct.
As a result, germs, such as bacteria or molds, grow in the refrigerator, which is the reason that the stored foods etc spoil quickly and causes a problem of malodor.
Therefore, conventionally, a disinfection device and/or deodorization device is installed in the refrigerator. In such a device, an ultraviolet ray discharging lamp is generally used. It is well known that floating germs are disinfected by ultraviolet rays and a light catalyst is installed within an irradiating range of the ultraviolet rays to deodorize. Additionally, it is also well known that if the wavelength of the ultraviolet rays includes a range below 185 nm, ozone can be generated so that the disinfection and the deodorization can be performed by the ozone.
According to the foregoing description, an object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator having a suitable structure to achieve the above issues.
For example, when such a device is installed in the refrigerator, it is common for the device to be installed within the circulating passage of the cold air. It is a good idea to arrange the device at the cooler, the position where the cold air circulates. However, in general, as the temperature reduces, the illuminating efficiency of the discharging lamp reduces. Therefore, it is another object to provide a refrigerator capable of suppressing the efficiency of the discharging lamp from being decreased and capable of performing superior disinfection and deodorization.
According to the objects mentioned above, the invention provides a refrigerator, comprising: a cooler arranged at an upper portion from a middle of an innermost of a cold temperature area; an air duct located at the innermost of a cold temperature area and below the cooler, for returning cold air to the cooler; and a discharging lamp, for creating ultraviolet rays and irradiating the ultraviolet rays to the air duct. In this way, the discharging lamp is arranged away from the cooler, so that the reduction of illumination efficiency due to the low temperature can be suppressed.
The invention further provides a refrigerator, comprising: a first cooler for cooling a cold temperature area and being arranged at an upper portion from a middle of an innermost of a cold temperature area; a second cooler for cooling a freezing temperature area; an air duct located at the innermost of a cold temperature area and below the cooler, for returning cold air to the cooler; and a discharging lamp, for creating ultraviolet rays and irradiating the ultraviolet rays to the air duct. In this manner, because the discharging lamp is arranged away from the cooler, the reduction of the illuminating efficiency due to the low temperature can be suppressed.
The invention further provides a refrigerator, comprising: a thermal insulating housing, formed in the refrigerator, and a storage compartment and an air duct are divided therein; a cooler, formed in the air duct, using thermal exchange to cool cold air in the air duct; a fan, for circulating the cold air cooled by the cooler, in the storage compartment; and an ultraviolet ray irradiating device, having a first surface capable of irradiating ultraviolet rays and a second surface capable of irradiating visible light. Due to the ultraviolet ray irradiating device, the ultraviolet rays irradiate the air duct and visible light irradiates the storage compartment. In this way, the ultraviolet ray irradiating device can also serve as an indicator of illuminating status in the storage compartment. In addition, the ultraviolet ray irradiating device can disinfect the circulating cold air, the surface of the air duct and the devices installed in the air duct.
In the above refrigerator, a fluorescent material can be formed on the second surface capable of irradiating visible light. Therefore, the ultraviolet rays can be converted to visible light.
The above refrigerator can further comprise a partition plate for dividing the storage compartment and the air duct. The ultraviolet ray irradiating device is installed on the partition plate, so that the first surface capable of irradiating ultraviolet rays faces the air duct, and the second surface capable of irradiating visible light faces the storage room. Therefore, the structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
Moreover, in the above refrigerator, the ultraviolet ray irradiating device is capable of being detachably installed from one side of the storage compartment. In this way, the maintenance for the ultraviolet ray irradiating device can be easily done at the side of the storage compartment.
In addition, the ultraviolet ray irradiating device is a plane-type lamp, and installed along a surface of the partition plate. Accordingly, the installation space of the ultraviolet ray irradiating device can be reduced, and the space efficiency can be increased. Because the storage volume of the storage compartment is not reduced and the circulation of the cold air in the air duct and the storage compartment is not blocked, the cooling efficiency can be increased.
In the above refrigerator, the surface of the air duct where the ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet ray irradiating device irradiate thereon can be made of a metal material. Accordingly, it can prevent the surface of the air duct in advance from damage resulting from the ultraviolet rays.
The invention further provides a refrigerator, comprising: a thermal insulating housing, formed in the refrigerator, and a storage compartment and an air duct are divided therein; a cooler, formed in the air duct, for use of a thermal exchange with the cooler to cool a cold air in the air duct; a fan, for circulating the cold air cooled by the cooler, in the storage compartment; and an ultraviolet ray irradiating device, capable of irradiating ultraviolet rays. The ultraviolet ray irradiating device is installed at the inflow side of the cooler but separated from the cooler, so that ultraviolet rays irradiate the air duct from the ultraviolet ray irradiating device. In this way, the inside of the air duct can be easily disinfected. Additionally, in the air duct, the circulating cold air and the inner wall of the air duct can be disinfected, and the devices installed in the air duct can be also disinfected. Therefore, various germs such as the bacteria or the molds can be prevented from growing and malodor can be prevented from occurring.
In the above refrigerator, the fan is formed in the air duct and at an outflow side of the cooler. Because the fan is located at an opposite position of the ultraviolet ray irradiating device through the cooler, the cold air disinfected by the ultraviolet ray irradiating device can flow through the cooler and the fan in sequence, so that it can prevent the bacteria or the molds from adhering on the cooler and the fan in advance. In addition, in the air duct, because the ultraviolet ray irradiating device is installed at the location whose temperature is highest, the illuminating efficiency of the ultraviolet ray irradiating device can be increased.
Moreover, the ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet ray irradiating device also irradiate the storage compartment and therefore,the storage compartment and the air duct can be also disinfected.
The invention further provides a refrigerator, comprising: a cooler, formed in the air duct, for use of a thermal exchange with the cooler to cool cold air in the air duct; a fan, for circulating the cold air cooled by the cooler, in the storage compartment; and an ultraviolet ray irradiating device. The ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet ray irradiating device irradiate the storage compartment and the air duct. Therefore, both the storage compartment and the air duct can be also disinfected.
The above refrigerator further comprises a door for freely opening and closing an opening of the storage compartment. The ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet ray irradiating device irradiate the storage compartment and the air duct according to a status whether the door has opened or closed the opening of the storage compartment. This prevents the ultraviolet rays from irradiating the user, so that the safety can be increased.
The above refrigerator further comprises a disinfection compartment divided from the storage compartment. The ultraviolet rays irradiating from the ultraviolet ray irradiating device to the storage compartment irradiate the disinfection compartment. By reflecting and diffusing the ultraviolet rays in the disinfection compartment, the ultraviolet rays can be concentratively irradiated, so as to achieve the disinfecting effect to such as breads or fresh foods. Additionally, by irradiating the ultraviolet rays to mushrooms, the vitamins in the mushrooms can be increased.
Furthermore, the refrigerator further comprises a plurality of special compartments adjacently formed in the storage compartment. At least one of the special compartments serves as the disinfection compartment, and at lease one surface of another special compartment covers one surface of the disinfection compartment. In this way, low temperature items can be cooled in the other special compartments, and the items in the disinfection compartment can be disinfected.
In the refrigerator, an inner surface of the disinfection compartment is made of a metal material. Therefore, it can prevent the inner surface of the disinfection compartment from damage due to the ultraviolet rays.